Throughout her broadcast career, Jules Breach has had a variety of opportunities to cover football (soccer) across various professional entities. As the lead reporter and presenter for TNT Sports in the United Kingdom, she is responsible for keeping viewers informed and entertained throughout the coverage of the game within a panoply of competitive fields such as the Premier League, Europa League and Champions League.
Breach will now have a new opportunity to demonstrate her football knowledge and media proficiency in the United States as the lead host for UEFA EURO Match Day, the FOX Sports studio show surrounding UEFA EURO 2024. The program will provide viewers with extensive pre-match and post-match coverage from the group stage to the championship round on FOX and FS1.
FOX Sports secured the media rights to the tournament through a six-year agreement with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which implements several championship matches and national team competitions. Coverage of UEFA EURO 2024 begins on Friday, June 14 at 3 p.m. EST when Germany opens group stage play against Scotland broadcast on the FOX television network. As a whole, the division will broadcast 46 UEFA 2024 and 32 CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 matches live on FOX, FS1 and FS2, and all matches will also be available to stream live on the FOX Sports app.
“It’s an absolute honor to be the lead host for FOX Sports’ coverage of the Euros this summer,” Breach said. “I’m absolutely buzzing. I am the biggest football fan, so to be hosting a tournament as big as this for a network as big as FOX is genuinely a dream come true.”
Breach articulated that she will bring the perspective of the fans to the airwaves while also being able to effectively contextualize the action through her previous experiences. At the same time, she possesses genuine excitement surrounding the sport and an inclination to align her colleagues with broadcast success.
Although the full roster of analysts has yet to be revealed, Breach hinted that it will include an array of different nationalities that will foster a congenial environment. One of the analysts joining Breach in studio is former center-back and Team Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini, someone from whom she will look to extrapolate perspectives pertaining to his team’s championship run in the 2020 iteration of the tournament.
“The analysts that we have – and we’ve got an amazing group of people that I’m going to be sat with every day – they bring the expertise,” Breach said. “They can tell us from their experiences of playing in these big matches what it’s like.”
Breach has been on the air for several different events both at the local and national level during her career working in sports media. Aside from her occupation with TNT Sports, she is the host for Channel 4 coverage of England national football team matches in the United Kingdom.
Moreover, she has covered the UEFA EURO 2020 and two FIFA World Cup tournaments for Optus Sport Australia, along with reporting and hosting for coverage of the UEFA Champions League from CBS Sports. No matter the assignment, Breach finds there to be a catalyzing element to sports that ultimately promulgates fellowship and rapport amid a backdrop of competition, zeal and felicitation.
“We use sport as a way to escape and as a means of entertainment and fun, so I guess I like to bring that side because when I watch sport; when I watch football, that’s what I want to see,” Breach said. “I want to see people smiling and having fun and enjoying it, but obviously there’s also a serious side to sport at times as well, so it’s getting the right balance when you need to.”
During tournament play, FOX Sports will broadcast matchups featuring both established veterans and rising stars within the sport. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modrić and Warren Zaïre-Emery encompass some of the standout performers that will take part in the tournament proceedings. The popularity of football (soccer) continues to flourish globally, demonstrated by record-breaking television audiences, merchandise sales and a blend of domestic and international interest.
Viewership for UEFA EURO 2020, which was delayed by the global pandemic and played in June and July 2021, garnered a live match cumulative event audience of 5.23 billion viewers. Additionally, the live average match audiences for the tournament surpassed 100 million viewers.
“I love that there’s such a huge interest in the Euros,” Breach said. “Obviously this is the first time that FOX is showing the Euros as well, so it’s a really exciting thing for the network, and I’m excited that I can be part of that, but ultimately I think the sport will continue to grow in popularity in the States just because it’s a great sport to watch.”
The UEFA Euro Match Day program from FOX Sports will implement various elements to engage with younger audiences, including a travel series with mirthful and appealing pieces. Although the sport is perceived to be the most popular in the world, the program will aim to resonate with savants who possess a keen aptitude of the game on and off the pitch, along with novices inquisitive to delve deeper into the game. Broadcasts of the show will commence one hour before matches televised on FOX and FS1 throughout the month-long endeavor.
“We’re going to be bringing so much coverage,” Breach said. “There’s going to be our buildup into pretty much every single Euros game that we show, and we’ll make sure that we break things down so people are educated as well as entertained, and we’ll do that with the best analysts.”
Breach has covered the England national football team’s journey to UEFA EURO 2024 and UEFA Nations League campaign on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and is grateful for the chance to continue following the club. Although she hopes that England will ultimately hoist the Henri Delaunay Trophy for the first time in tournament history, she is anticipating UEFA EURO 2024 in its totality and her new hosting role with FOX Sports. Breach will leverage her reporting acumen and conversations with players into her hosting obligations in addition to a broad, comprehensive discernment pertaining to individual and team odysseys towards the prestigious tournament.
“I love the fact that FOX has given me this opportunity, and hopefully I can continue to cover international tournaments for the network,” Breach said. “That’s the dream; that’s what I want to keep doing.”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
